Forests

Image: Yosemite Valley by Jesse Gardner / Unsplash

Healthy, resilient forests provide critical ecosystem services that are essential to climate adaptation in California. Forested lands make up roughly one third of our state, covering nearly 32 million acres. Because of the broad variety of climate zones in California, the State hosts an exceptional diversity of plant and animal species in forest ecosystems that provide essential habitat for native wildlife, store carbon, and filter drinking water. Forest products and
forest-based recreation also support rural communities and the state economy. In addition to wildland forests, the urban tree canopy covers 15 percent of California’s urban areas, providing green space and public health benefits to 95 percent of Californians who live in cities.[1]
Finally, nearly two-thirds of California’s developed water supply originates from the streams and rivers of the Southern Cascades and Sierra Nevada mountain regions,[2] tying healthy forests to the well-being of most the state’s population, over 25 million residents.

Unfortunately, many of California’s forests are currently degraded as a result of fire suppression activities, past management practices, and climate change. California forests were historically shaped by low-intensity frequent fire;[3] many forests are recently overgrown and have missed their natural fire cycles. As a result, they are less resilient to stresses exacerbated by climate change.[4] These degraded forests are not able to provide the full range of carbon and water storage benefits that could help the state mitigate and adapt to climate change. Furthermore, fragmented and overstocked forests provide less suitable habitat for wildlife and make it more challenging for species to migrate in response to a changing climate.

Given the variety of wildland and urban forest ecosystems and land ownership patterns in California, and the challenges brought on by climate change, there is no single prescription that will restore forest health on its own.[5] However, investing in a number of activities can significantly improve forest resilience.[6]
Restoring and protecting forest ecosystem function by reintroducing fire and improving management is necessary to both protect California’s forest base and enhance watershed health. Furthermore, community resilience can be supported by rebuilding California’s forest management workforce, using the workforce to expand the extent and health of California’s urban tree canopy, and advance fire preparedness. Finally, it is important to both foster creative solutions to sustainably utilize biomass from fuels reduction activities, and to better understand climate trends in forests via research and monitoring. In order for each of these activities to be effective in building forest resilience to climate change, collaborative partnerships are critical - particularly with the federal government, which owns over 50% of California’s forest land. Overall, there remains a need for strategies that work across state, federal, tribal, nonprofit, and private management partners and are tailored to address regional needs and ecosystem conditions.

Sierra Business Council. 2018

DroughtExtreme stormsFloodingSnowpackWildfire

Case Study

This project supported both Sierra Business Council’s Climate Planning program and the Sierra Climate Adaptation and Mitigation Partnership (Sierra CAMP). The Climate Planning team worked to implement the Energy Action Plans of Alpine County … and Sierra County, and Sierra CAMP focused on network education and expansion. The goal for both programs was to assist Sierra stakeholders in understanding adaptation and the tools needed to plan for climate change, and to promote community climate action and education.

California Tahoe Conservancy. 2018

DroughtExtreme stormsFloodingWildfire

Case Study

The California Tahoe Conservancy (Conservancy) is developing an inter-agency climate adaptation strategy for the Lake Tahoe Basin (Basin), and this project represents the transportation element of the strategy. The aim of this project is … to develop a strategy that provides recommendations for addressing climate adaptation deficiencies, serving as a basis for updates to several critical regional plans and programs. This project will downscale climate model projections for the Basin, assess the vulnerability of the Basin’s infrastructure, transportation network, and economy to climate change-related impacts such as rising temperatures and extreme events, and develop an interagency and multi-sectoral climate adaptation strategy. Local jurisdictions in the Basin will be able to draw upon the climate projections, vulnerability assessment, and strategy when addressing climate change adaptation in their general plans.

Town of Mammoth Lakes. 2018

DroughtSnowpackWildfire

Case Study

The project will develop climate adaptation and resiliency strategies for the Town of Mammoth Lakes to inform a General Plan update and incorporate Senate Bill 379 requirements. A vulnerability assessment will be prepared and adaptation … strategies will be developed. The entirety of Mammoth Lakes is identified as a Low-Income Community per AB 1550. Adaptation goals, policies, and implementation measures will inform an update of the General Plan to reflect recommendations developed through a collaborative process.

Eco Adapt. 2018

AssessmentCase StudyCommunication or educational materialData, tools, and researchPlan or strategyProject or Example

The Climate Adaptation Knowledge Exchange (CAKE) is a site that helps users find resources by organizing and explaining data, tools and information available from other sites. It includes an interactive online platform and a directory of … practitioners to share knowledge and strategies. CAKE consists of case studies, a virtual library, directory and tools and houses a variety of community forums for the discussion of current issues in climate adaptation.

Georgetown University: Georgetown Climate Center. 2018

AssessmentCase StudyCommunication or educational materialData, tools, and researchPlan or strategyPlanning and policy guidanceProject or Example

The Georgetown Climate Center's Adaptation Clearinghouse is an online database and networking site that serves policymakers and others who are working to help communities adapt to climate change. This Clearinghouse features a wide array … of resources, including research papers, case studies, plans, climate science, modeling tools, and more. Content focal areas include the water, coastal, transportation, infrastructure and public health sectors, and adaptation planning, policies, laws, and governance.

United States Global Change Research Program. 2018

Case StudyData, tools, and researchPlanning and policy guidanceProject or Example

The U.S. Climate Resilience Toolkit is a website designed to help people find and use tools, information, and subject matter expertise to build climate resilience. The Toolkit offers information from all across the U.S. federal government … in one location. Some features of the Toolkit include the Climate Explorer visualization tool, a five-step resilience planning process, case studies documenting climate-related risks and responses, and a federal resource database.